Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted that Newcastle United will be subjected to a convincing defeat when they take on Liverpool on Boxing Day.
The Magpies are coming into this Premier League clash on the back of a 0-0 stalemate with Fulham on Saturday, while Liverpool come into this clash on the back of a 2-0 win over Wolves the previous day.
Merson has predicted that the Reds will secure a resounding 3-0 victory over United on Wednesday, and added that it would be a massive surprise if Newcastle were able to pull a result out of the bag at Anfield.
“I watched Newcastle against Fulham, they never looked like scoring in a month of Sundays and they were playing against the worst defence in the world! So this would be the biggest shock of the season if they won here,” he told Sky Sports.
“Newcastle will defend for so long, but then it will not be enough.”
OPINION
It is hard not to agree with Merson here, as it is pretty difficult to see anything other than a Liverpool win on Wednesday – especially as they are at home. Like he pointed out, Newcastle struggled in attack against Fulham, and they currently have the worst defence in the Premier League. This is a rather worrying fact, so if they cannot manage to muster up decent chances against the league strugglers, then they have no chance of doing so against Liverpool. It was a shame to see Newcastle play so poorly as the fans know they are capable of so much more in attack, especially with Salomon Rondon up front. With the way Liverpool are performing at the moment, it would be the “biggest shock of the season” to see Newcastle win. The Reds are in blistering form, much to the dismay of United fans come Wednesday. Benitez must go out all guns blazing against Liverpool – as Crystal Palace have already proved that the smaller teams can heap misery on the big teams.
